Just as (also) your Father is merciful

1Sam 26,2.7-9.12-13.22-23; Ps 102; 1Cor 15,45-49: Lk 6,27-38
24 FEBRUARY

To understand the beauty, the greatness and the absolute perfection of the Gospel of Jesus, it is a good thing to compare it with the very principle that governs the moral action of the Lord’s people: the holiness of God. The holy God wants a holy people.

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not be so thorough that you reap the field to its very edge, nor shall you glean the stray ears of grain. Likewise, you shall not pick your vineyard bare, nor gather up the grapes that have fallen. These things you shall leave for the poor and the alien. “You shall not defraud or rob your neighbour. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day labourer. You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. “You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly. You shall not go about spreading slander among your kinsmen; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbour’s life is at stake. I am the Lord. “You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord. “When an alien resides with you in your land, do not molest him. You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the Lord, am your God. “Do not act dishonestly in using measures of length or weight or capacity. You shall have a true scale and true weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (Cf. Lev 19,1-39).

In the ancient Law, the holiness of God was all turned to the negative. What should have never been done was indicated. Instead, in the Gospel of Jesus, not only is everything positive, but also universal, towards every man. Not only must the disciple of Jesus not know evil, he must do all the good that is in his both spiritual and material possibilities, capabilities. The Father is the one who gave his Only Son. The Son is the one who gives himself from the cross. Who is the disciple? He who imitates the Father and Christ Jesus. He is the one who in Christ gives himself totally to the Father in the body, in the soul, in the spirit and in every part of his being, so that the Father may make of him a gift of love and salvation.

“But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit (is) that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

The Father in giving Christ Jesus to the world is always in the fullness of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Even Christ in his giving himself to the Father, so that the Father makes of him a sacrifice of expiation, redemption, salvation and justification, is moved and led by the Holy Spirit. If the Christian wants to live the new law of perfect love, he too must always be moved and guided by the Spirit of God, but for this reason every day he must grow in wisdom and grace. If growth in the Spirit is omitted, the flesh will take possession of the heart and mind and will govern every action of the Christian.

Mother of Jesus, Angels and Saints, do not allow the Christian to be guided by the flesh.